#1: WPX Hosting
What sets WPX’s Stagings apart is that you can merge their Staging with your live site, as opposed to overwriting your live site with the Staging.
What’s the difference? Merging a Staging with the public website will not overwrite any new content (comments, posts, pages, etc.) that was added to the live site since you created the Staging.
Other than that, WPX offers one of the best (although relatively expensive) WordPress hosting services around. You get to host up to five websites on their basic plan, and the quality of their live chat support and server performance are second to none.
They are also on our list of hosts that offer pro-rated refunds, as well as hosts with free malware detection and removal.
See our honest WPX review for more.
WPX plan highlights:
- Starting price: $20.83/mo.
- Negotiable prices: no
- WP sites allowed: five
- Storage: 10 GB
- Bandwidth: 100 GB
- Money-back guarantee: 30 days
- Live chat: 24/7
DreamHost
DreamHost was the dark horse in the thorough budget web hosting comparison we conducted earlier this year. Their servers performed surprisingly well in our traffic stress tests, and website uptimes and load speeds are on par with what you’d expect from significantly more expensive hosting providers.
Our only gripe with them is that their live chat support is not available 24/7. However, when available, the support quality is excellent.
Considering they offer a 97-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked, why not give them a try?
DreamHost plan highlights:
- Starting price: $2.59/mo.
- Price negotiable: no
- Websites allowed: one
- Storage: 50 GB
- Bandwidth: unlimited
- Money-back guarantee: 97 days
- Live chat: 5:30 am to 9:30 PM PT
SiteGround
SiteGround offers a Staging environment with its GrowBig and GoGeek plans.
We strongly recommend SiteGround to anyone looking to host WordPress websites. The quality of their service matches that of WPX, despite WPX being significantly more expensive.
Exceptional website load speeds and a team of support agents that truly wants to help are only some of the reasons why SiteGround is in our list of the best single-website web hosts. They also sell one of the cheapest annual hosting plans you’ll find anywhere.
Please make sure to read our thorough SiteGround review.
SiteGround GrowBig plan highlights:
- Starting price: $5.95/mo.
- Websites allowed: unlimited
- Storage: 20 GB
- Suitable for: ~25,000 monthly visitors
- Money-back guarantee: 30 days
- Live chat: 24/7
Bluehost
The wildly popular provider Bluehost also offers free website staging.
Although the quality of their live chat support is a bit hit-and-miss, Bluehost offers some of the best server uptimes and website load times in the business.
In fact, BlueHost sells one of the cheapest plans with unlimited websites. They are additionally on our list of web hosts with the best email sending limits.
Bluehost plan highlights:
- Starting price: $2.75/mo.
- Negotiable prices: only on renewals
- Websites allowed: one
- Storage: 50 GB
- Bandwidth: unlimited
- Money-back guarantee: 30 days
- Live chat: 24/7
InterServer
In addition to their robust servers, a great tech support team, and a competitive and transparent pricing structure, InterServer is on our list of hosts with the cheapest monthly plans.
If WordPress Stagings and reliable website performance are your priority, give InterServer a try. Just keep in mind they are probably not suitable for websites that receive more than 300-500 visitors per day.
InterServer plan highlights:
- Starting price: $5.99/mo.
- Websites allowed: one
- Storage: 100 GB
- Bandwidth: unlimited
- Money-back guarantee: 30 days
- Live chat: 24/7
InMotion
InMotion offers a built-in Staging environment with its WordPress hosting plans.
Other than being affordable and extending an exceptional money-back guarantee, InMotion offers free student hosting. They are also on our list of quality hosts with a free domain.
InMotion plan highlights:
- Starting price: $5.99 / mo.
- Negotiable prices: yes
- Websites allowed: one
- Storage: 40 GB
- Suitable for: ~20,000 visitors per month
- Money-back guarantee: 90 days
- Live chat: 24/7
A2 Hosting
In addition to free Stagings, A2 offers free website restorations from backups.
A2 Hosting’s cheapest WP plan is one of the best to be on if your website regularly receives up to 3,000 – 4,000 visitors per day.
A2 plan highlights:
- Starting price: $11.99/mo.
- Websites allowed: one
- Storage: 10 GB
- Bandwidth: unlimited
- Free domain: no
- Control panel: Plesk
- Live chat: 24/7
GoDaddy
The largest web host in the world, GoDaddy offers free Stagings with their WordPress plans.
Generally, we do not recommend GoDaddy to webmasters running high-traffic websites, as sites hosted with them handle multiple concurrent website visitors poorly.
On the flip side, their servers offer excellent website load times and up-times. Plus GoDaddy is on our list of hosting providers with negotiable prices, so you can get an even better price than the one listed publicly.
GoDaddy plan highlights:
- Starting price: $6.99/mo.
- Websites allowed: one
- Storage: 10 GB
- Bandwidth: unlimited
- Money-back guarantee: 30 days
- Live chat: 24/7
WP Engine
One of the most expensive WordPress hosting providers around, WP Engine offers the ability to create free Staging environments.
Although the quality of their servers and security standards are top-notch, we do not fully understand why their hosting plans are so expensive. Read “why is WP Engine so expensive” for our attempt at making sense of it all.
On the plus side, WP Engine offers one of the longest money-back guarantees.
You’ll also find them on our list of hosts with the highest Inode limits.
WP Engine plan highlights:
- Starting price: $29.16/mo.
- Negotiable prices: no
- WP sites allowed: one
- Storage: 10 GB
- Bandwidth: 50 GB
- Money-back guarantee: 60 days
- Live chat: 24/7
Frequently asked questions (FAQ) about WordPress website staging environments
What if my host doesn’t offer stagings?
You can install the WP Staging plugin to create and manage your own Stagings.
Do Stagings occupy server storage space?
Yes, they do.
When you create a Staging, you are essentially duplicating your WordPress website files and databases.
For example, if your website and databases are 3 GB in total, you’ll need at least 3 GB of free storage space to be able to create a Staging.
Recommended reading: how much storage will my WordPress website occupy?
Do I need a separate domain to host my Staging?
Generally, no.
At all hosts we tested, the Staging was created under a subdomain.
For example, if your main WordPress site resides under http://wordpress-site.com, the staging will be available under http://staging.wordpress-site.com
Do I need to set up a new WP username and password for my Staging?
Because the Staging is just a copy of your original site, you can use your standard login credentials to access the admin panel.
Does a WordPress Staging require a database?
Because a Staging is a clone of your website, it requires as many databases as your original website is using.
This can be a problem at some providers. For example, if your hosting plan allows you to create up to two databases, and your website already uses two database slots, you won’t be able to create a Staging.